The following positions are typically associated with right-wing politics.
Anti-communism Early
communists used the term "right-wing" in reference to conservatives, placing the conservatives on the right, the liberals in the centre and the communists on the left. Both the conservatives and the liberals were strongly
anti-communist, although the conservatives' anti-communism was much stronger than liberals'. The history of the use of the term
right-wing about anti-communism is a complicated one. propaganda poster depicting the
White movement which says "For a united Russia", 1919 By
World War I, in most European monarchies, the
divine right of kings had become discredited and was replaced by
liberal and
nationalist movements. Most European monarchs became figureheads, or they yielded some power to elected governments. The most conservative European monarchy, the Russian Empire, was replaced by the communist
Soviet Union. The
Russian Revolution inspired a series of other
communist revolutions across Europe in the years 1917–1923. Many of these, such as the
German Revolution, were defeated by nationalist and monarchist military units. During this period, nationalism began to be considered right-wing, especially when it opposed the internationalism of the communists. After
World War II, communism became a global phenomenon and anti-communism became an integral part of the domestic and foreign policies of the
United States and its
NATO allies. Conservatism in the post-war era abandoned its monarchist and aristocratic roots, focusing instead on patriotism, religious values, and nationalism. Throughout the
Cold War, postcolonial governments in
Asia,
Africa, and
Latin America turned to the United States for political and economic support. Communists were also enemies of capitalism, portraying
Wall Street as the oppressor of the masses. The United States made anti-communism the top priority of its foreign policy, and many American conservatives sought to combat what they saw as communist influence at home. This led to the adoption of several domestic policies that are collectively known under the term
McCarthyism. While both liberals and conservatives were anti-communist, the followers of Senator McCarthy were called
right-wing and those on the right called liberals who favoured free speech, even for communists,
leftist.
Economics Early forms of corporatism would be developed in
Classical Greece and used in
Ancient Rome. Plato would develop the ideas of
totalitarian and
communitarian corporatist systems of natural based classes and social hierarchies that would be organised based on function, such that groups would cooperate to achieve social harmony by emphasising
collectives interests over
individual interests. Corporatism as a
political ideology advocates the organisation of society by
corporate groups—such as agricultural, labour, military, scientific, or guild associations—based on their common interests. After the
decline of the Western Roman Empire corporatism became limited to
religious orders and to the idea of Christian brotherhood, especially in the context of economic transactions. In Europe's history, there have been strong
collectivist right-wing movements, such as in the social Catholic right, that have exhibited hostility to all forms of
liberalism (including
economic liberalism) and have historically advocated for paternalist class harmony involving an organic-hierarchical society where workers are protected while class hierarchy remains. In the 19th century, the Right had shifted to support the newly rich in some European countries (particularly Britain) and instead of favouring the nobility over industrialists, favoured capitalists over the working class. Other right-wing movements—such as
Carlism in Spain and nationalist movements in France, Germany, and Russia—remained hostile to capitalism and industrialism. Nevertheless, a few right-wing movements—notably the French
Nouvelle Droite,
CasaPound, and American
paleoconservatism—are often in opposition to capitalist ethics and the effects they have on society. These forces see capitalism and industrialism as infringing upon or causing the decay of social traditions or hierarchies that are essential for social order.
Laissez-faire schools In modern times, "right-wing" is sometimes used to describe
laissez-faire capitalism. In Europe, capitalists formed alliances with the Right during their conflicts with workers after 1848. In 1871, the Austrian school came to be with the work of
Carl Menger,
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk,
Friedrich von Wieser, and others, originating from methodologically opposition to the
Historical school, in a dispute known as
Methodenstreit. The Austrian school opposition to be
heterodox, advocating strict adherence to
methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivations and actions of individuals along with their
self interest. Austrian-school theorists hold that economic theory should be exclusively derived from basic principles of human action. In France, the Right's support of capitalism can be traced to the late 19th century. After
the period of boulangisme and the
Dreyfus affair, nationalism became a trait of the right wing. Right-wing nationalists sought to define and defend a "true" national identity from elements which they believed were corrupting that identity. Right-wing nationalism was influenced by
Romantic nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy from the organic unity of those who it governs. This generally includes the language, race, culture, religion, and customs of the nation, all of which were "born" within its culture. Linked with right-wing nationalism is
cultural conservatism, which supports the preservation of the heritage of a nation or culture and often sees deviations from cultural norms as an existential threat. In the 21st century,
neo-nationalism came to prominence after the
Cold War in the
Western world. It is typically associated with cultural conservatism,
populism,
anti-globalisation, and
nativism and is
opposed to immigration. The
ideology takes historical association in determining membership in a nation, rather than
racial concepts.
Natural law and traditionalism Right-wing politics typically justifies a hierarchical society based on
natural law or
tradition. Traditionalism was advocated by a group of United States university professors (labelled the "New Conservatives" by the popular press) who rejected the concepts of
individualism,
liberalism,
modernity, and
social progress, seeking instead to promote what they identified as cultural and educational renewal.
Populism Right-wing populism is a combination of
civic-nationalism,
cultural-nationalism and sometimes
ethno-nationalism,
localism, along with
anti-elitism, using populist rhetoric to provide a critique of existing political institutions. According to Margaret Canovan, a right-wing populist is "a charismatic leader, using the tactics of politicians' populism to go past the politicians and intellectual elite and appeal to the reactionary sentiments of the populace, often buttressing his claim to speak for the people by the use of referendums". In Europe, right-wing populism often takes the form of distrust of the
European Union, and of politicians in general, combined with
anti-immigrant rhetoric and a call for a return to traditional, national values. Daniel Stockemer states, the radical right is, "Targeting immigrants as a threat to employment, security and cultural cohesion". In the United States, the
Tea Party movement stated that the core beliefs for membership were the primacy of individual liberties as defined by the Constitution of the United States, preference for a small federal government, and respect for the rule of law. Some policy positions included opposition to illegal immigration and support for a strong national military force, the right to individual gun ownership, cutting taxes, reducing government spending, and balancing the budget. In Indonesia, Islamic populism has a significant impact on right-wing politics. This is largely due to the historical context which Islamic organisations had during the 1960s in destroying the Indonesian Communist Party.
Religion In
The Possessed (1872) and
The Brothers Karamazov (1880),
Fyodor Dostoevsky portrayed socialism as an attempt to build a kingdom of Man as opposed to
kingdom of God. According to Dostoevsky himself, the intention of the latter book was to portray "the seed of the idea of destruction in our time in Russia among the young people uprooted from reality". This seed is depicted as: "the rejection not of God but of the meaning of His creation. Socialism has sprung from the denial of the meaning of historical reality and ended in a programme of destruction and anarchism". In his 1931 encyclical
Quadragesimo Anno,
Pope Pius XI wrote that "true socialism" was irreconcilable with the teachings of the
Catholic Church "because its concept of society itself is utterly foreign to Christian truth", stating:American right-wing media outlets oppose sex outside marriage and
same-sex marriage, and they sometimes reject scientific positions on
evolution and other matters where science is perceived to disagree with the
Bible. The term
family values has been used by right-wing parties—such as the
Republican Party in the United States, the
Family First Party in Australia, the
Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, and the
Bharatiya Janata Party in India—to signify support for traditional families and opposition to the changes the modern world has made in how families live. Supporters of "family values" may oppose
abortion,
euthanasia, and
birth control. Outside the
West, the
Hindu nationalist movement has attracted privileged groups which fear encroachment on their dominant positions, as well as "plebeian" and impoverished groups which seek recognition around a majoritarian rhetoric of cultural pride, order, and national strength. In
Israel,
Meir Kahane advocated the belief that Israel should be a
theocratic state, where non-
Jews have no voting rights, and the far-right
Lehava strictly opposes Jewish assimilation and the Christian presence in Israel. In the United States, the
Jewish Defence League (JDL) was classified as "a right wing terrorist group" by the FBI in 2001. Many
Islamist groups have been called right-wing, including the
Great Union Party, the
Combatant Clergy Association/Association of Militant Clergy, and the
Islamic Society of Engineers of Iran.
Social stratification in 1962|upright=0.9 Right-wing politics involves, to varying degrees, the rejection of some
egalitarian objectives of
left-wing politics, based on the belief that
social or
economic inequality is natural and inevitable or the belief that it is beneficial to society. American conservative
Russell Kirk also rejected egalitarianism as imposing sameness, stating: "Men are created different; and a government that ignores this law becomes an unjust government for it sacrifices nobility to mediocrity".
Right-libertarians reject collective or state-imposed equality as undermining rewards for personal merits, initiatives, and enterprise. == History ==